League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA June 5, 2012 Election
	Christopher E. "Chris" Cobey Answers Questions Candidate for Judge - Superior Court; County of Santa Clara; Office 5

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. As a judge, you may be called on to impose sentences for crimes ranging from misdemeanors to homicide. While there are sentencing parameters and guidelines, you will have latitude. What factors and principles/values will affect your decisions?

The primary purpose of the criminal justice system is to reduce crime. Following are some of the factors, principles and values I would consider in determining a criminal sentence:

1. The range of sentences permitted by the law.
2. The extent of violence or threat of violence
3. The likelihood of deterrence
4. The impact of the offense upon the victims
5. The defendant's record and life connections
6. The chance of rehabilitation

2. Please describe your experience in civil and criminal cases.

My legal career has included more than three years of criminal prosecution experience in two counties, with more than 60 jury trials and dozens of felony preliminary hearings on cases ranging from driving under the influence, to welfare fraud, child molestation, and murder. I also served briefly as a criminal prosecutor in juvenile court.

My 33-year civil law career has been primarily in employment litigation, in Superior Courts around California (Santa Clara County, the rest of the Bay Area, Northern California, and Southern California) and also federal courts. I've primarily handled trial court work, but have appellate experience in both state and federal courts.

3. Would you propose any changes to assure that there is no appearance of bias in the courtroom including, but not limited to, bias based on disability, gender identity, age, race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation?

As a Temporary Judge, I received training this spring on bias in the courtroom. In that training, we were reminded of the importance of active listening, eye contact, and body positioning and movement, in serving as an effective presiding officer. We were also reminded that, although judicial officers may believe themselves to be fair and impartial, there is always room for improvement to achieve that goal, as shown by tests such as the Implicit Association Test. (See "en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicit_Association_Test")

In my legal career in employment discrimination, I've become familiar with the dangers and detection of explicit bias. But the next frontier in ensuring that our judges and jurors as fair as possible is addressing the difficult area of implicit bias + those "attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, decision-making, and behavior, without our even realizing it."

As a judge, I will do my very best to be aware of any implicit biases on my part, and to attempt to dismantle those implicit biases. I will do the same for jurors in my courtroom. Therefore, if permitted, I would propose to give a jury instruction along the following lines:

"Do not decide the case based on 'implicit biases.' As we discussed in jury selection, everyone, including me, has feelings, assumptions, perceptions, fears, and stereotypes, that is, 'implicit biases,' that we may not be aware of. These hidden thoughts can impact what we see and hear, how we remember what we see and hear, and how we make important decisions. Because you are making very important decisions in this case, I strongly encourage you to evaluate the evidence carefully and to resist jumping to conclusions based on personal likes or dislikes, generalizations, gut feelings, prejudices, sympathies, stereotypes, or biases. The law demands that you return a just verdict, based solely on the evidence, your individual evaluation of that evidence, your reason and common sense, and these instructions. Our system of justice is counting on you to render a fair decision based on the evidence, not on biases."

(For an excellent illustration of implicit biases, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7i60GuNRg)

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Word limits for answers are 400 words for all questions. Direct references to opponents are not permitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: May 21, 2012 21:48
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